Braid stitching machine



P 1 N. TABACHNICK 2,763,223

BRAID STITCHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 6, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

NATHAN TABACHNICK FIG. 3. WW

Sept. 18, 1956 N. TABACHNICK BRAID STITCHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 6, 1953 INVENTOR.

TA BAC'H NICK NATHAN ,appliedby the operator to along lines United States Patent Office 2,763,223 BRAID STITCHING MACHINE Nathan Taba'chnick, University City, Mo. Application August 6, 1953, Serial No. 372,647 7 Claims. (Cl. 112-23) This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in fabrics of the stitched braid type, and more particularly to methods and machinery for making such fabrics.

In the millinery industry, a great many types of ladies and childrens hats for spring and summer Wear are fashioned from braid which is a flat, relatively narrow continuous strand of braided fibers, such as straw, silk or the like. Although straw is perhaps the most common braid material for hat making purposes, the present invention is not limited merely to straw-braid but can be applied equally well to other types of braids. In any case, hat bodies are ordinarily made from braids of various types by the conventional procedure of initially working one end of a string of braid into a small tightly circled disk which is stitched together so as to hold its shape. With this as a starting element, the continuous length of braid is stitched to itself in edge-to-edge relation in an ever-increasing circle, preferably with a chainstitched sewing machine. Depending upon the tension the braid as it is fed into the machine, the speed of the machine and other well understood factors, it is possible to vary the shapeof the resulting fabric from a completely fiat disk to a bowl-shaped crown of any desired contour. All such shapes, however, are spirally stitched as a matter of basic construction and the braid conforms to a circular arc. Furthermore, there are definite limitations in the size of the finished product which can be conveniently and efliciently made by this procedure. a

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a fabric made of parallel-stitched lengths of braid, which fabric struction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide methods and machinery for the production of stitchedbraid fabrics and more stitched type.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide braid-stitching machinery which is simple and substantially automatic in operation and is capable of formis essentially linear in conparticularly fabrics of the linearly l ing a helically stitched tube of braid which may then be axially slit to form a substantially rectilinear section of tion resides in the novel features of form, construction,

arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings (two sheets)- Figure 1 is a front elevational View of a braid-stitching machine constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical system forming a part of the present invention;

Figures 3 and 4 are fragmentary sectional views taken 3-3 and 4-4 respectively of Figure 1;

2,763,223 Patented Sept. 18, 1956 Figures 5, 6, and 7 are fragmentary sectional views taken along lines 55, 66, and 7-7 of Figure 4;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figures 9 and 10 are fragmentary sectional views taken along lines 99 and 1010 of Figure 8;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 1111 of Figure 4;

Figure 12 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the cut-off control mechanism forming a part of the present invention;

Figure 13 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 13 -13 of Figure 12; and

Figure 14 is a top-plan view of a section of stitchedbraid fabric constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, A designates a braidstitching machine comprising a conventional sewing machine table-top 1 supported in horizontal position above the floor by legs 2, 3. conventionally mounted upon the upper face of the table-top 1 is a sewing machine 4 of the single needle chain stitch type. The machine actually illustrated is of the Willcox & Gibbs type but it should be understood that this invention is not in any way limited to such machines since similar machines are made by a number of other manufacturers. The sewing machine 4 is provided With a needle-bar 5, a needle 6,'presser'- foot 7, thread guides 8, 8, braid gauge 9, and a maindrive pulley 10 for receiving a beltll which extends downwardly through a slot s in the table-top 1 and is engaged around a drive pulley 12, operatively connected through a clutch 13 to a countershaft 14 journaled beneath the tabletop 1 and drivingly connected by belt 15 to line-shafting16. All of these elements are conventional and are, therefore, not described in detail.

The clutch 13 is provided with an actuating yoke 17 integrally formed on the upper end of a bell-crank 18 which is in turn rockably mounted on a pivot 19 and has a horizontal arm 20 extending laterally outwardly therefrom. At its outer end the arm 20 is provided with a ball-socket 21 for operative connection with the ball-end 22 of a vertical turnbuckle-rod 23 which is in turn pivotally connected at its lower end to a lever 24 fulcrumed on a pintle-post 25 bolted to the floor. Outwardly of the rod 23, the lever 24 is rockably pinned to a foot-treadle 26 also fulcrumed between pintle-posts 27, 27' bolted to the floor. At its opposite end the lever 24 is pinned to upper end of a vertically shiftable solenoid armature 28 operatively mounted in a solenoid 29. Connected at its lower end to the lever 24, between the pintle-post 25 and the solenoid 29, is a tension spring 30 which is in turn hooked at its upper end to an eye 31 fixed in the leg 3. The spring 30 will normally hold the lever 24 in the position shown in Figure 1 and the rod 23 will be pulled down, holding the clutch 13 in engaged position, thereby transmitting rotary movement to the drive-pulley 12 and driving the sewing machine 4. The same result can also be obtained by proper actuation of the foot-treadle .26. When the solenoid 29 is energized, as will be presently more fully explained, the lever 24 is pulled down, lifting is a microswitch 37 having a forwardly projecting thin wire arm 38 bent back upon itself at its free end in the formation of an open loop or eye 39 through which the thread may pass as it travels between the thread guides. As long as thread is passing through the thread guides 8, 8 to the needle 6 while the sewing machine 4 is running, the tension on the thread will pull the arm in the direction of the arrow in Figure 5 and will hold it in such position and the circuit through the microswitch 37 will remain open. If the thread should accidentally break or should run out, the tension is relieved and the arm 38 will spring back closing the circuit through the microswitch 37. The same result may occur when the sewing machine 4 is stopped for any other reason, since stoppage of the sewing machine 4 will relieve tension on the thread if the needle-bar 5 happens to stop on the downstroke.

Similarly bolted to the braid gauge 9 and extending downwardly therefrom is an arm 40 provided, adjacent its lower end, with a forwardly extending vertical plate 41 having a horizontal flange-plate 42 bolted along its lower margin and an auxiliary plate 43 secured in laterally spaced parallel relation thereto. Rockably mounted on the outer face of the plate 41 is a feelerarm 44 having an upwardly curved shoe 45 at its free end and being integrally provided, intermediate its ends. with a lateral tongue 46 which projects loosely through an elongated slot or opening 47 formed in the plate 41. The tongue bears against a downwardly biased, depending push rod 48 forming part of a microswitch 49 adjustably mounted between plates 41, 43. When the push rod 48 is shifted upwardly the microswitch 49 opens and conversely when the push rod 48 is shifted downwardly the microswitch 49 closes. The feeler-arm 44 is biased downwardly by the pull-rod 50 and spring 51 so that the shoe 45 will rest upon a stationary supporting plate 52 having a guide flange 53 all as best seen in Figures 11 and 12.

When braid is fed up to the needle 6 it is passed between the shoe 45 and supporting plate 52 holding the shoe upwardly in the position shown in Figure 12, there.- by opening the circuit through the microswitch 49. If the strand of braid is broken or runs out the shoe 45 swings downwardly producing similar movement in the push rod 48 and causing the microswitch 49 to close.

Also mounted between the plates 41, 43 are two manually operable switches 54, 55 having operating knobs 56, 57 respectively. The switch 54 is a main line switch controlling the circuit to both microswitches 37, 49, and the switch 55 is an auxiliary switch in series with the microswitch 37 to permit by-passing the microswitch 37 if the needle-bar 5 has stopped in such position that tension on the thread is relieved. The switches 54, 55, the microswitch 37 and one line of the solenoid 29 are connected in series to one side of the line and, similarly, the microswitch 49 is connected in series with the switch 54 and the same line of the solenoid 29 so as to bypass the switch 55 and microswitch 37, all as best seen in Figure 2. The other line of the solenoid 29 is connected directly to the other side of the line. During normal operation, the thread will hold the microswitch 37 open and the incoming strand of braid which is being fed to the needle will hold the microswitch 49 open so that if either the thread breaks or the braid strand runs out, the microswitches 37, 49, will respectively close, energizing the solenoid and actuating the rod 23 in the same manner as it would be actuated by the foot-treadle 26.

Also mounted on the arm 40 above the plate 41 is a horizontally disposed tubular sleeve 58 provided with a segmental slot 59 and being adapted for rotatably supporting a guide-rod 60 which extends axially therethrough. The arm 40 is provided with an aperture 61 concentrically aligned with the bore of the sleeve 58 for clearing the guide-rod 60. The end of the guide-rod 60 which projects through the arm 40 is bent to an angle of approximately 13 in the provision of a guide-finger 62 and the other end of the guide-rod 60 is provided with a radial pin 63 for engagement with one end of a tension spring 64 which is hooked at its other end on a short anchor-pin 65 set into the end face of the sleeve 58 for bracing the guide-pin for rotation in a clockwise direction (reference being made to Figure 9). Slidably mounted in the sleeve is a U-shaped latch-member 66 having a finger button 67 and spring 68. At its inner end 69 the latch-member 66 is sized for engagement in a radial recess 70 formed in the guide-rod 60. Rigidly mounted in the guide-rod 60 and projecting radially outwardly therefrom for operative disposition within the slot 59 of the sleeve 58, is a rod 71 integrally provided at its outer end with a large flattened finger-grip 72. When the button 67 is pushed inwardly (i. e. to the right in Figure 9) the latch-member 66 is disengaged permitting the guide-rod 60 to rotate Figure 10. The guide-finger 62 will shift from the down" position shown in full lines to the up position shown in dotted lines in Figure 8.

Bolted or otherwise rigidly mounted on the rear face of the sewing machine 4 and extending horizontally outwardly therefrom is an elongated support-bar 73 which is bent forwardly at an angle of approximately 13. In other words, the support-bar 73 and the guidefinger 62 are parallel when the latter is in the position shown in full lines Figure 8.

The braid is conventionally held upon a spool and spool holder (not shown) and is fed to the sewing machine 4 between the shoe 45 and supporting plate 52 and thence upwardly to the needle 6. To set up the machine 4 for operation, the main switch is ofl so that the operators foot can oppose the force of the spring 30 and thereby cause the sewing machine 4 to run or stop at will. The leading end of the braid is fed between the shoe 45 and support plate 52 and then beneath the presser foot 7 and needle 6. The braid is then looped around the support-bar 73 and up over the guide finger 62 which is set in down" position. The leading end is then fed back as shown in Figure 4 under the needle 6 so as to be stitched in edge-to-edge relation upon itself. In the initial feeding operation the treadle 26 is preferably operated by foot but as soon as the first loop is formed the main switch 54 is closed. The presence of the braid under the shoe 45 holds microswitch 49 open, but since the machine may have stopped with the needle bar 5 on a down-stroke there may not be sufiicient thread-tension through the loop 39 of the arm 38 to hold the microswitch 37 open, and for this reason the solenoid 29 may become energized as the main switch 54 is closed. If the sewing machine 4 does not immediately start up the auxiliary switch 55 is opened momentarily, cutting off current to the solenoid 29 through the microswitch 37. Thereupon the spring 30 pulls the lever 24 up and the clutch 13 is shifted to engaged position setting the sewing machine 4 in operation. If the thread breaks or the braid runs out the sewing machine 4 will be automatically stopped. Otherwise, it will continue to run automatically and without further attention from the operator forming a continuous cylinder C of stitched braid which will feed itself off over the guide-finger 62 and along the support-bar 73 as shown in Figure 7. The 13 angle at which the support-bar 73 and guide-finger 62 are set have been found to be correct for effecting this continuous self-feeding operation and holding the initial loop of braid under proper tension as it is presented to the needle. If the thread runs out and the sewing machine 4 must be rethreaded or if for any other reason it is necessary to attend to the needle 6, the guidefinger 62 may be released and allowed to rotate into up position temporarily releasing tension on the cylinder C of straw braid at the forming end. Similarly, if

to the position shown in' the braid runs out and a new strand must be joined to the old end, the guide-finger 62 may be released so that'such juncture can be readily effected. If the machine stoppage has resulted from breakage of thread or because the braid ran out, one or both of the microswitches 37, 49 will be closed. After rethreading or the like the cylinder of braid C is slipped over the guide-finger 62 and the latter is again returned to down position, whereupon the sewing machine 4 may again be started as previously described. 7

When the cylinder C is of sufiicient length, the unstitched or supply-strand of braid is snipped off and the cylinder C is removed from support-bar 73. Thereupon, the cylinder is cut axially and flattened out'to form a rectangle of braid-fabric F as shown in Figure 14 in which the strands b of braid forming the material are both parallel and linear. Such fabric can be used for a wide variety of purposes in the making and trimming of millinery and for making handbags, shoe-uppers and many other articles. If desired it is also possible to provide an auxiliary arm 74 having an end portion 75 of substantially the same shape as the upper end of the arm 40 and being adapted for bolting to the braid gauge 9 inlieu of the arm 40. The auxiliary arm 74 extends horizontally outwardly and is provided with a pair of vertically spaced parallel slots 76, 77 into which the upper end of the arm 40 may be securely fastened by thumb screws 78, 79. It will be apparent that by this means the arm 40 may be rigidly set in any position of forward or rearward adjustment within the limits of the slots 76, 77 thereby correspondingly increasing or decreasing the distance between the guide-finger 62 and the support-bar 73 making it possible to change the diametral size of the cylinders C which are being fabricated by the machine A and correspondingly produce pieces of stitched-braid fabric F of greater or lesser width as may be desired.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the fabric or machinery may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine comprising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-operative therewith, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on the sewing machine base on the out-put side of the presserfoot and extending laterally and substantially horizontally outwardly from the base on the opposite side of the feed plate with respect to the main portion of the sewing machine, and a guide-finger extending outwardly from the base on the same side thereof as the work-supporting bar and on the input side of the presser-foot in forwardly spaced relation to the work-supporting bar, said guide-finger having an outwardly projecting portion which is parallel to the work-supporting bar, whereby to co-act with the work-supporting bar in forming a straight length of braid into a tube as it is stitched and then holding the tube of stitched braid in a substantially horizontal cylinder as it is formed and is fed off the machine.

2. A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine comprising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-operative therewith, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on the sewing machine base on the out-put side of the presserfoot and extending laterally and substantially horizontally outwardly from the base on the opposite side of the feed plate with respect to the main portion of the sewing machine, and a guide-finger extending angularly outwardly from the sewing machine on the'input side of the presser-foot in spaced relation to the work-supporting bar for co-operation therewith in holding the stitched braid in a substantially horizontal cylinder as it .is formed and is fed oil? the machine.

3. A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine comprising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-operative therewith, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on and extending outwardly at an oblique anglefrom the base on the out-put side of the presser-foot and extending laterally and substantially horizontally outwardly from the base on the opposite side of the feed plate with respect to the main portion of the sewing machine, and a guidefinger extending outwardly at an oblique angle from the base on the same side thereof as the work-supporting bar and on the input side of the presser-foot in forwardly spaced relation to the Work-supporting bar, said guide finger having an outwardly projecting portion which is parallel to the work-supporting bar, whereby to co-act with the work-supporting bar in forming a straight length of braid into a tube as it is stitched and then holding the stitched braid-in a substantially horizontal cylinder as it is formed and is fed off the machine.

4. A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine comprising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-ope'rative therewith adapted to stitch a continuous strand of braid in a closed helical loop, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on and extending outwardly from the sewing machine on the out-put side of the presser-foot and a means extending outwardly from the base on the same side thereof as the work-supporting bar and on the input side of the presser-foot in forwardly spaced relation to the work-supporting bar, said guide-finger having an outwardly projecting portion which is parallel to the worksupporting bar, whereby to co-act with the work-supporting bar in forming a straight length of braid into a tube as it is stitched and then applying diametral tension to the initial few closed loops of stitched braid and thereby forming the stitched braid into an elongated cylinder, said work-supporting bar being adapted for holding the stitched braid cylinder in approximately horizontal position as it is formed and is fed ofi the machine.

5. A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine comprising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-operative therewith adapted to stitch a continuous strand of braid in a closed helical loop, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on and extending outwardly from the sewing machine on the out-put side of the presser-foot and a guide-finger extending outwardly from the base on the same side thereof as the work-supporting bar and on the input side of the presser-foot in forwardly spaced relation to the work-supporting bar, said guide-finger having an outwardly projecting portion which is parallel to the worksupporting bar, whereby to co-act with the work-supporting bar in forming a straight length of braid into a tube as it is stitched and then applying diametral tension to the initial few closed loops of stitched braid and thereby forming the stitched braid into an elongated cylinder, said work-supporting bar being adapted for holding the stitched braid cylinder in approximately horizontal position as it is formed and is fed off the machine.

6. A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine com prising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-operative therewith adapted to stitch a continuous strand of braid in a closed helical loop, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on and extending outwardly from the sewing machine on the out-put side of the presser-foot and a rotatable guidefinger extending outwardly from the base on the same side thereof as the work-supporting bar and on the input side of the resser-foot in forwardly spaced relation to the work-supporting bar, said guide-finger having an outwardly projecting portion which is parallel to the worksupporting bar, whereby to co-act with the work-supporting bar in forming a straight length of braid into a tubeas it is stitched and then applying diametral tension to the initial few closed loops of stitched braid and thereby forming the stitched braid into an elongated cylinder, said work-supporting bar being adapted for holding the stitched braid cylinder in approximately horizontal position as it is formed and is fed off the machine.

7..A braid stitching machine for forming a continuous somewhat cylindrical tube of braid, said machine comprising a sewing machine having a base, a reciprocating needle, a presser foot and feed plate co-operative therewith adapted to stitch a continuous strand of braid in a closed helical loop, a stationary work-supporting bar mounted on and extending outwardly from the sewing machine on the out-put side of the resser-foot and an adjustable guide-finger extending outwardly from the base on the same side thereof as the work-supporting bar and on the input side of the presser-foot in forwardly spaced relation to the work-supporting bar, said guidefinger having an outwardly projecting portion which is parallel to the work-supporting bar, whereby to co-act with thework-supporting bar in forming a straight length of braid into a tube as it is stitched and then applying diametral tension to the initial few closed loops of stitched braid and thereby forming the stitched braid into an elongated cylinder, saidwork-supporting bar being adapted for holding the stitched braid cylinder in approximately horizontal position as it is formed and is fed off the machine. 

